


Present Tense

by Ononymous



Series: Christmas 2019 Stories and Requests [5]
Category: Deltarune (Video Game), Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Christmas, Gen, Post-Deltarune Chapter One
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:53:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22023643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ononymous/pseuds/Ononymous
Summary: One might think that Susie would not appreciate precious downtime like Christmas getting interrupted for anything. But when it's Kris, and for a reason she understands all too well, she can't really mind.
Relationships: Asgore Dreemurr & Kris (Deltarune), Kris & Susie (Deltarune)
Series: Christmas 2019 Stories and Requests [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1580731
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	Present Tense

You wake up.

Your bedroom is dark. And empty. The snow on the highways reported by the news must be really bad if Asriel hasn't reached home yet. You had braced for this possibility, but still...

You check your phone. It's 6am, and the 25th. The day has come. You have two messages. As expected, one is from Asriel apologising for being delayed and hoping to see you later. Your heart aches a little. You read the other message.

You put on a fluffy white robe over your pyjamas you rested atop the rusty cage. You don't hear any unusual sounds. Only snoring. Toriel must be asleep.

You fish out a present from your wardrobe, quietly open the door and creep down the stairs. Silence greets you. You take care of business in the bathroom before crossing the kitchen.

The corner of the living room has changed. The tree is still there, resplendent in cheap lights, but it is surrounded by presents. Only two or three are for Toriel. The vast majority are for either Asriel or you. Most are quite large, and all are expertly wrapped with love.

You don't open any of them. You rummage around, making sure nothing has been overlooked. No presents have been accidentally concealed by others. This is all that there is.

"..."

You check your phone again. You check the presents again.

"..."

This is all that there is.

* * *

The naive teenagers had been whittled down, one by one, all failing to heed the advice of the gas station attendant on their way to the forest concert. It was just the two of them now, the innocent looking Loox confiding in the foolish Icecap that they didn't want to die a-

_Ding dong!_

"Ugh." Pause button. "Coming."

Heavy thuds accompanied the sullen progress from the sofa to the door, which was then thrown open.

"What the hell do you-" Susie suddenly stopped and blinked. "Oh, it's you."

Kris stood on her porch, a coat over what looked like a white dressing gown, a present coiled under their arm. They were looking as stoic as ever.

"Well ya coming in, dude?" She threw them a razor sharp grin. "I know humans don't do too well in the cold for long."

Kris accepted her invitation, sitting down on her sofa and eyeing the bowl of popcorn and the look of terror on the television.

"Folks both drew New Years for which day they'd get off," Susie explained, "so I get the house to myself today. Figured I'd watch something a little unseasonal."

Flopping down besides Kris, her clawed hands grabbed the popcorn and the remote, offering Kris a handful as she unpaused the movie to an ear-splitting scream. Susie merely chuckled at the carnage.

"Hey," she said, "that present for me?" Kris shook their head. "Eh, figured as much, what with you already giving me these last week." She pulled out a yellow box from her jacket, extracted a green stick and started nibbling on it. "A little waxier than I'm used to, but pretty sweet, dude."

Kris gave her a small smile, and then watched the movie in silence for a while. After watching the teen monsters escape with only minor dust wounds, a rather nondiegetic clunk drew Kris' attention to the coffee table, where two large boots arrayed with spikes now rested on the table.

"Pretty sick, if I do say so myself. Can't believe my dad agreed to get them for me. Remind you of that little field trip we took together?"

"...yeah."

"Oh, it speaks after all." A purple finger picked out a green chunk from her teeth. "Yeah, these bring back some fun memories. Ain't no way your mom'll let them into the school, but I'm not bothered. I know exactly where I can get a pair." At the mention of Toriel, Kris stiffened, but Susie missed it. "Say hi to your brother before deciding to spend the day with me?"

"Not home yet. The snow storm."

"Oh. Bummer. Sorry, Kris. Ah well, can't say I dunno how you're feeling right now. Ha!"

Her defiant laugh came off a little forced, so she threw more popcorn into her maw as a distraction.

"Wonder what Lancer does this time of year?" Kris drummed the top of their present.

"Huh, that came outta nowhere. Well, I bet he's gonna hold a gladiator tournament where the winner gets to live."

"..."

"Yeah, that fuzzy dork would keep him in check. Well he'll probably have a royal banquet with nothing but top cake and church fruit juice."

"..."

"I know, right?" Susie looked down at the present. "Izzat who that's for? Thinkin' of sneaking into the school and spending the day in the dark?"

"No."

"Egh, you spend too much time around that Doe-eyed Doe. Then who's it for?"

"...Dad."

Susie looked at Kris' dressing gown again, and then at their feet. They were wearing slippers shaped like paws. "...ah. One of those kinda mornings, was it?"

Kris grunted, a non-committal noise that told the whole story.

"Well you definitely can't say I dunno how you're feeling now, dork." Her voice had a guttural tone to it. "Well why aren't you dancing with the daisies and tulips already?"

"...dunno."

The credits started to roll. "...think ya do. You never feel ready to go over to who you really want. Gotta psyche yourself up or something. I normally punch a locker or three."

Kris didn't deny it. They didn't get a chance. The doorbell rang. Cursing loudly at the interrupted moment, Susie got up and stomped towards the door for a second time.

"Don't you have anything better to- Oh. Um, hello."

"Howdy, Miss Susan," came a deep voice, "have you seen- oh... May I come in?"

"...whatever. Just watch your horns on the frame or Mom will kill me."

The second guest of the day squeezed himself past Susie and stood in the living room, brushing fresh snow from a threadbare leather jacket, head slightly tilted despite the ten inches of space between the ceiling and his horns. Kris looked up at him, not demanding he leave but not embracing him either. Asgore took advantage of their inaction to carefully lower himself onto the sofa where Susie had been sitting. He clumsily jabbed out a text message on his phone, sent it, and turned to give Kris his full attention.

"Kris," he said, "your mother told me what happened, the message you sent her, and you have it all wrong."

Susie watched the naked disbelief on Kris' face that Asgore either missed or ignored.

"You see, I did come round to the house rather late last night - I'd been preparing a big order of flowers for the hotel for people having their dinner there today - and by the time I arrived your mother had finished laying out all the presents for you and your brother. So when I turned up with mine after she was already finished, she had no idea how to arrange them, and she was exhausted from a day of preparatory cooking, so she kept them safe in the bedroom and thought she could sort it out in the morning. You woke up earlier than she planned, that's all. As if she would ever deny you or Asriel a present from anyone, let alone me. She's still very... ambivalent about it all - I mean who wouldn't be? - but I don't think she's vindictive."

Susie's mind drifted to a bin smelling strongly of flowers, but had no desire to stir up drama already swirling in the pot.

"You've gotten her so worried! Thank goodness you're alright. She wants you to know she's so sorry for giving you the wrong impression."

"...why didn't she call?" There was no warmth in the question.

Asgore scratched one of his floppy ears. "She's... always believed in face to face communication. I mean Lord knows, it took Asriel six months to teach her how to use her phone fully. I think she thinks calling you for this wasn't enough. And it's not like she's dispatched me, she's over at the Drakes right now in case you wound up there. It's mere luck that I found you first."

Doubt was still etched on Kris' face from Susie's perspective. The way she saw it, it said something that Asgore elected to try her house before anyone else's.

"So, uh," she said, "you taking Kris back home?"

"Not yet," said Asgore. "If you wouldn't mind, Miss Susan, I'd like to do this here."

Susie had a good idea of what "this" was, so finally closed the front door.

"I suppose in many ways this started all the trouble," chuckled Asgore, "but, well, here you go. Merry Christmas."

He took out a plain brown envelope from inside his jacket, and handed it to Kris. Kris opened it immediately, and shook out ten or twelve slightly dog-eared pieces of paper. As Susie approached, she realised it was sheet music. Not like a collected book, just old pages picked up here and there.

"I'm not sure you still play the piano much these days," said Asgore, "but I always enjoyed it when you- oof!"

His large belly was suddenly grappled and squeezed tightly, Kris' face buried in his pink floral shirt. Susie had the decency to tie her boot laces. By the time she was done the hug was over, and now Kris was thrusting their present into his hands, which he graciously accepted and unwrapped with his claws. An ornate teapot swarming with flowers now rested in the palm of his hand.

"Oh golly, Kris, this is so beautiful! Thank you." A nursery rhyme style of jingle came from Asgore's pocket, and he checked his phone. "Perfect timing. Kris, I've agreed to meet Asriel at the bus station, and he should be there soon. Let's meet him together, and then I can take both of you home, just in time for dinner, and then..."

Kris' smile had been growing for the duration of these promises, and its raw hope helped falter Asgore's own warm smile.

"I don't think I should stay, Kris. It would be foolish to pretend things aren't still tense. Better to let you and your brother enjoy your mother's pie, he certainly can't get enough of it. But I'll be okay, I'm going to keep Rudy company today. You're all welcome to join us when you're done."

Kris had retreated into the sort of stoicism that only humans could portray. But then, "I'll save you some."

Asgore laughed and patted Kris on the shoulder, almost bending them over double with the force of it. "Now then, let's get to my truck before the engine freezes up. Good thing I can keep the cab naturally warm."

Susie half-expected Kris not to budge, to continue to hold themselves hostage as a bargaining chip in the Dreemurr Family crisis. Instead they got up quite willingly. They nodded in appreciation to Susie for the morning spend together, and opened the door on their way to the truck. Asgore got up too, and looked over to Susie.

"I must apologise for you getting involved in this, Miss," he said. "I'm sure you haven't enjoyed getting your Christmas plans derailed by our woes."

"Oh yeah," she said, razor sharp smirk prominent, "having to pause the movie was a pain in my ass."

The foul language had no effect on Asgore. In fact he pivoted deftly. "You could come with us if you like. I'm sure Toriel would love to have a friend of Kris' over for dinner."

"Ehhhhh..." she so-so'd with her hand. "I try to limit my teacher exposure during down times, Mister Dreemurr. Nothin' personal."

"Alright, then. Well, have a great Christmas!"

He carefully manoeuvred himself out onto the porch and closed the door behind him. Susie didn't put on another movie as she otherwise might have. Instead she walked over to the window and watched the truck struggle into life over the next five minutes and then slowly make its way up the street. Judging by the silhouette of the smaller figure, she was sure Kris was downright laughing at something Asgore had said.

"By the angel," she said, keeping the true meaning of the season in mind, "I'd fix the Dark World all by myself faster than I'd untangle all that." Not that she would have minded if she could untangle it.

**Author's Note:**

> Original Suggestion: Kris hanging out with Susie after Toriel confiscates and destroys the few meager presents his dad was able to give him


End file.
